Little railway, BIG adventures! Whistlestop Valley is home to the Kirklees Light Railway's real-life narrow-gauge steam engines, outdoor playgrounds, a jumping pillow, a cafe, a miniature ride-on railway, dessert parlour, gift/toy shop and loads of good old fashioned family fun. A return ride along the scenic 3.5 mile line can be completed in just over an hour or you can extend your visit by hopping off for a bite to eat or a play in one of the two fabulous playparks. Whistlestop Valley is open to the public most weekends, Bank Holidays and local school holidays, with special toddler/preschooler days on selected Mondays and Fridays. Please check our website for opening times. BOOK ONLINE IN ADVANCE.
So... yeah we couldn't have picked a worse day to go to Whistlestop Valley. Heavy rain on and off for the majority of the day. Anyway if your child/children love trains this an amazing place to go. Split into 2 areas the main area has a cafe w/gift shop with a toy train whizzing round a track up above. At the back door of the gift shop is the train station (we'll get back to that later). Also in the main area is a: miniature train track, fairground rides, a full sized train carriage for parties, an indoor play area (train themed of course) a train and castle themed play area, inflatable pillow, crazy golf and a pedal kart area. A decent variety of things for children to do. Back to the train station, the train ride takes about 20-25 minutes to get to the other end of the track. You pass through some amazing countryside views and you go into a tunnel as well. My family really enjoyed it, I felt like a big kid honestly . Anyway once the train ride ends you end up at the second area of Whistlestop Valley. It's a smaller area but has a train themed play area, small cafe, plenty of seating, a DVD screening room with books as well (Hey Duggee was playing so of course our kids were glued to it for a bit) and toilet facilities. Despite the absolutely dreadful weather there was still plenty for our kids to do and to play with. I'd highly recommend going here rain or shine, we will certainly be going back again in future, hopefully when one of the special events are taking place.
Fantastic day out for the family! All staff were extremely helpful, polite and willing to help. Amazing that the rides and all activities are included in the entry price too! The steam train ride is brilliant as it's much longer than other places we've been to and at the other station there's a cafe, toilets and another park!
Highly recommend for kids aged between 3-6. We went when they had a Paddington themed day. The kids loved it! Especially the face painting team, they were super professionals.
Great fun, not been here in a long time. It's definitely paid off having the rebrand back after COVID and with the original light railway name kept the same makes it even more special for us local folk.
Amazing day out with our boys. Good value for money, plenty to keep them entertained all day. Food at the cafe was good, it was busy and queues were long, however, food arrived very quickly and was delicious. The only recommendation I would make is to add more pedal karts to to track or monitor use so it is more equitable as lots of kids were waiting for larger karts for a long time. However a minor point, day was excellent, we will be back to enjoy some of the character days.
Lovely couple of hours spent enjoying Yorkshire scenery from a narrow gauge steam train. Frequent service with two fascinating locos in steam. Nice food in cafe and plenty for kids to do.
On-site services
Wheelchair-accessible car park
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Wheelchair-accessible toilet
Toilets
LGBTQ+ friendly
Transgender safe space
Getting tickets in advance recommended
Good for kids
Good for kids birthday
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So... yeah we couldn't have picked a worse day to go to Whistlestop Valley. Heavy rain on and off for the majority of the day. Anyway if your child/children love trains this an amazing place to go. Split into 2 areas the main area has a cafe w/gift shop with a toy train whizzing round a track up above. At the back door of the gift shop is the train station (we'll get back to that later). Also in the main area is a: miniature train track, fairground rides, a full sized train carriage for parties, an indoor play area (train themed of course) a train and castle themed play area, inflatable pillow, crazy golf and a pedal kart area. A decent variety of things for children to do. Back to the train station, the train ride takes about 20-25 minutes to get to the other end of the track. You pass through some amazing countryside views and you go into a tunnel as well. My family really enjoyed it, I felt like a big kid honestly . Anyway once the train ride ends you end up at the second area of Whistlestop Valley. It's a smaller area but has a train themed play area, small cafe, plenty of seating, a DVD screening room with books as well (Hey Duggee was playing so of course our kids were glued to it for a bit) and toilet facilities. Despite the absolutely dreadful weather there was still plenty for our kids to do and to play with. I'd highly recommend going here rain or shine, we will certainly be going back again in future, hopefully when one of the special events are taking place.
Fantastic day out for the family! All staff were extremely helpful, polite and willing to help. Amazing that the rides and all activities are included in the entry price too! The steam train ride is brilliant as it's much longer than other places we've been to and at the other station there's a cafe, toilets and another park!
Highly recommend for kids aged between 3-6. We went when they had a Paddington themed day. The kids loved it! Especially the face painting team, they were super professionals.
Great fun, not been here in a long time. It's definitely paid off having the rebrand back after COVID and with the original light railway name kept the same makes it even more special for us local folk.
Amazing day out with our boys. Good value for money, plenty to keep them entertained all day. Food at the cafe was good, it was busy and queues were long, however, food arrived very quickly and was delicious. The only recommendation I would make is to add more pedal karts to to track or monitor use so it is more equitable as lots of kids were waiting for larger karts for a long time. However a minor point, day was excellent, we will be back to enjoy some of the character days.
Lovely couple of hours spent enjoying Yorkshire scenery from a narrow gauge steam train. Frequent service with two fascinating locos in steam. Nice food in cafe and plenty for kids to do.
